BEYOND

BEYOND FACTORY FARMS ‘Big Meat’ Comes at High Cost

Kevin Walker, a Michigan State University professor and author of The Grand Food Bargain and the Mindless Drive for More, says, “Meat is the poster child of industrial food gone awry.” Independent animal farmers are disappearing while factory farms are getting bigger, causing more air, soil and water pollution in rural communities nationwide, reports the Center for a Livable Future (CLF) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Large industrialized farms known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) rely on the routine use of antibiotics to both prevent the spread of disease and promote animal growth and weight gain—a practice known to fuel antibiotic resistance and compromise human health.

High Cost of Cheap Meat

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a push toward greater efficiency created the shift to industrial livestock production. However, attempts to maximize production for higher returns at minimal cost come at a price.

For example, a growing body of evidence

by Melinda Hemmelgarn

shows that CAFO leads to the social and economic decline of rural communities. “Research has consistently found that living near a CAFO is associated with an array of negative health impacts, including respiratory disease, mental health problems and certain types of infections,” says Keeve Nachman, Ph.D., director of the CLF Food Production and Public Health Program.

Everett Murphy, M.D., a retired pulmonologist from Kansas City, concurs, “Not only are the odors from factory livestock farms offensive, but individuals living within three miles of industrial animal operations are at risk for serious, life-shortening illnesses and permanent disabilities.” Concrete reservoirs designed to hold manure present a problem as well, he adds, “They always leak into the groundwater, spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria and making the source of water to neighboring communities unusable and toxic.”

Joan Olive says she is living proof that exposure to air pollution from factory farms is every bit as harmful as scientists and health experts have warned about for years. On one fateful December day 16 years ago, Olive was outdoors on her family farm near Spencer, Iowa, when she noticed a strong, sickening odor. Feeling nauseous, she went inside, but later that evening, her tongue swelled, she became disoriented and began shaking and sweating profusely.

Olive’s symptoms subsided over the next few days, but since then she has experienced multiple chemical sensitivities, transient symptoms of brain fog, muscle twitching, migraines, and respiratory and circulatory problems. Health experts at the University of Iowa identified the source of the sickening odor as toxic hydrogen sulfide from liquid CAFO waste that had been sprayed on farmland one mile from Olive’s home. In addition to the region’s concentration of hog CAFO, her home sat two miles from 1.5 million chickens. Today, Olive drinks filtered water and eats organic food to protect her health, but she notices that her symptoms return when triggered by exposure to CAFO air pollution and pesticides. In March, Olive moved to Spearfish, South Dakota, where she’s breathing easier and enjoying time outdoors. But she believes she left behind “thousands of rural residents who are having their lives and health destroyed by Big Ag.”

There Ought to be a Law

“Government oversight and policies designed to safeguard the health of individuals and the environment from these operations have been inadequate,” says Bob Martin, director of the CLF Food System Policy Program.

Citing environmental and public health hazards, the American Public Health Association issued a new policy statement last November calling for a precautionary moratorium on all new and expanding CAFO. It advises a complete halt until additional scientific data has been collected and public health concerns addressed.

Bypassing Industrial Eating

Many consumers don’t realize that the majority of beef, pork and chicken sold in supermarkets, served in restaurants and distributed to institutions nationwide comes from the industrial food system. According to the Public Justice Food Project, 85 percent of the meat Americans consume is produced by four corporate giants—Tyson, Smithfield, Cargill and JBS—each accused of hiding labor, animal or environmental abuses behind folksy brand names and packaging images.

To shed light on abuses and steer consumers away from industrial meat, the Center for Food Safety created a website that pulls back the curtain on CAFO. It recommends replacing half of the meat we eat with humane, sustainably raised, grass-fed and organic meat, while replacing the other half with plant-based sources of protein such as beans, peas, lentils, nuts and seeds—a dietary approach that benefits our gut microbes and protects us against a host of chronic diseases.

Meat Alternatives

As concerns mount about the health, ethical and environmental impact of animal products, the food industry has responded with more plant-based, lab-grown meat

Once you learn how our modern industrial food system has transformed what most Americans eat, you become highly motivated to eat something else. ~Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, Chew on This and co-producer of Food, Inc.

alternatives. Yet, according to the Food and Technology 2019 report by the market research firm The Hartman Group, many meat replacements rely on highly sophisticated technologies that hardly meet consumers’ definitions of “natural”.

“It’s all about what isn’t on the label,” says Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., chief science advisor of the GRACE Communications Foundation. According to Rangan, many plant-based and fake meat products are actually ultra-processed foods that contain genetically engineered ingredients and rely on petroleum-based chemicals that are not required to be listed on the label.

“The Impossible Burger introduces over 48 new proteins to the human diet without a thorough safety investigation,” warns Rangan. She questions whether these new meat alternatives are better than meat from animals raised on pasture without routine drugs and synthetic fertilizers.

There’s a big difference between the health and environmental impact of meat from animals raised in feed lots versus those raised with regenerative agricultural practices. “Industrial agriculture is absolutely harmful,” reports A Greener World, a nonprofit certifier of the trustworthy Animal Welfare Approved label. But thinking we have to go vegan or purchase fake meat to protect our health or the planet is misguided.

Eating Less, But Better Meat

“Our bodies are designed to be omnivores, and animal products are part of a diverse, real food diet,” says Rebecca Thistlethwaite, director of the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network at Oregon State University. Thistlethwaite, author of Farms with a Future and The New Livestock Farmer: The Business of Raising and Selling Ethical Meat, believes in ancestral eating and eating as close to nature as possible. She is mindful of portion size and eats only organic and pasture-raised animal foods to avoid synthetic chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures, in Bluffton, Georgia, declares, “It’s not the cow, it’s the how.” Harris transitioned his livestock operation from the industrial model to certified humane animal husbandry and sustainable practices that emulate nature. The switch to a pasturebased system yields healthier animals, he explains, and helps take carbon out of the atmosphere and back into the soil.

In Cows Save the Planet and Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth, author Judith Schwartz describes how grazing animals play a key role in restoring soil health, and therefore human health. “Well-managed pastures and grasslands with ruminant animals can sequester more carbon than they emit, improve soil health and increase groundwater recharge,” explains Thistlethwaite. Plus, both livestock and poultry can make use of inedible feeds that humans don’t consume, such as grass and sagebrush.

Critical Questions to Find and Support Good Food Where does my food come from? Who produced it and under what conditions? Were workers treated fairly and animals humanely? What’s in or on my food? Were pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, genetically modified ingredients or additives used in producing it? Is it rich or poor in nutrients? What might be the unintended consequences of my food and farming choices? How might those choices affect our environment and future generations?

Take Action to Power To the People Rangan and Harris emphasize that the power of consumer

Stop Factory Farms spending can shift the market. However, Thistlethwaite says, “We cannot just vote with our forks, as many people don’t have that The COVID-19 health crisis highlights inequalities in how we produce and distribute food. A new bill, the Farm System Reform Act (FSRA), will luxury.” She urges change at both personal and political levels, favoring incentive-based approaches with fewer subsidies going to the industrial system. “We need more farmers raising high-quality animals in a humane, ecologically responsible manner,” says Thistlethwaite. But we also need more small-scale slaughterhouses and meat processors throughout the country to get quality meat to more of our tables. oxinoxi/Shutterstock.com help to create a more healthy, sustainable In addition to farmers’ markets, cooperatives and commuand equitable model, by placing a moratonity supported agriculture, organizations such as the American rium on new Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (commonly known as factory farms), cracking down on the monopolistic Grassfed Association and Local Harvest connect consumers directly to farmers using sustainable practices to help rebuild regional food hubs and networks. “Start with small steps,” suggests Thistlethwaite. “Buy milk practices of multinational meat corporafrom a local creamery, eggs from a farmer in your community or tions and supporting farmers to transione-quarter cow to fill your freezer from a local, grass-fed beef tion to healthier, pasture-based models and organic farming. To support the FSRA, producer. Reward the farms and ranches that are doing it right by purchasing from them, promoting them, supporting them.” the Sierra Club has made it easy to conMelinda Hemmelgarn is an award-winning registered dietitian, tact members of Congress at Tinyurl.com/ writer and nationally syndicated radio host based in Columbia, BlockFactoryFarms. MO. Reach her at FoodSleuth@gmail.com. Tune into Food Sleuth Radio at kopn.org.

Mastel’s HEALTH FOODS EST. 1968 Locally owned and independent since 1968! Learn More, Eat Smarter Tribalium/Shutterstock.com vitamins, minerals, supplements, herbs, grocery, personal care, homeopathy, tcm Center for Food Safety:EndIndustrialMeat.org Consumer Reports:Tinyurl.com/MeatGetsMakeover 1526 ST. CLAIR AVENUE, ST. PAUL, MN 55105 T. 651-690-1692 • WWW.MASTELS.COM Food Print:Tinyurl.com/WhatIsFoodPrint

OPEN WEEKDAYS 9-8 • SATURDAY 9-6 • SUNDAY 12-5 Friends of the Earth:foe.org/resources/from-lab-to-fork A Greener World:AGreenerWorld.org

10 Things You Can Do for the Planet Instead of Giving

CallUsforYourNewSummerLook! Up On Animal Agriculture: AGreenerWorld.org/ a-greener-world/10-things-you-can-do

Humane Society Food Industry Scorecard:

HumaneSociety.org/resources/food-industry-scorecard Keep Antibiotics Working:KeepAntibioticsWorking.org Public Justice Food Project: Food.PublicJustice.net/ communityresources Right to Harm film and resources:RightToHarm.film

One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts film:

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3 Strategies to Conquer Overwhelm

by Nea Clare

Since March, nearly every person in this nation has experienced the impacts of the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19), as schools shut their doors, stores and businesses closed and we were all forced to shutter in our homes until further notice. There was no preparing for the impacts this would have, and what was worse, there was no real clear end date or way to escape it. Everyone experienced pressures that four months ago, we could not have imagined.

While there have never been situations like we have experienced recently, the feeling of overwhelm is nothing new to the human experience. The definition of being overwhelmed is to be given too much of something (burdened), to be defeated completely (powerless) and to be buried beneath a huge mass (helpless). Burdened, powerless and helpless convey more accurately the experience of overwhelm and provide more accurate clues to help you navigate the experience and regain your sense of freedom, power and capability.

Developing personal strategies before getting to the state of overwhelm is always preferred. However, as we have already discussed, planning ahead for what we cannot yet imagine makes that a challenge. Over the last several years I have found three consistent strategies that can be used, even in the middle of a personal meltdown, that will pull you out of a tailspin. These strategies work under all conditions:

1Honor Yourself.Often one of the first things we do when we feel overwhelmed is try to fix it by seeking to feel better, to get busier or even to ignore the problem. The challenge is that ignored and neglected pain (sadness, disappointment, frustration) comes out sideways in our thoughts, feelings, actions and reactions. It will show up as resentment, righteousness, lashing out, blaming and self-pity. The One of the greatest lessons we can learn is that being stuck and overwhelmed is not a necessary part of our life.

alternative is to pay attention to your emotions as they are, without judgement or resistance. Getting clear (on your emotions) helps to reduce the swirl of thoughts and emotions, because you have a place to focus. You can begin to see clearly what is being stirred up in you. Take a moment and consider the following questions: • What am I really feeling right now? • What is not currently being honored? • What part of me is feeling neglected?

2Take a Break. It is hard to believe that taking a break for 15 minutes can be helpful. Taking a pause from the spin is a great way to connect to something enjoyable. Taking a walk, going for a run, doing yoga, drawing, reading, cooking dinner or playing with your child are all wonderfully restorative to you on all levels: physical, emotional and mental. In the spaciousness, these are the moments where you have access to ideas, inspiration and new possibilities that can resolve the stresses that were keeping you blocked. The key is do not make the break more work—do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Consider the following to get started: • Take a minute to brainstorm four or five actions you can take right now, that you enjoy. • Of these five actions, pick the one you find most enjoyable and do it for a minimum of 15 minutes. • After your break, check in and see how you are feeling.

3Pick One Thing. The core experience of overwhelm is a feeling of powerlessness, that life is happening to you, not through you. When your attention is pulled in multiple directions, trying to find a channel for action can be part of the stress. The key is to pick one thing—any one action you can take right now that will make a difference in your emotional state. The key is to pick one thing that will get your full attention and do it. Achievement releases dopamine into our body, which gives a sense of pleasure and creates drive or motivation to want to do more. Focusing on one thing increases your desire to want to achieve even more. Use the following to help guide you: • What would I most love to give my attention to right now? • When will I know I have reached the goal or completed the task? Afterwards, check in on how you are feeling.

One of the greatest lessons we can learn is that being stuck and overwhelmed is not a necessary part of our life—it is always optional. We cannot control the feelings that arise, but we can choose how we respond. Practicing these three strategies will help you to develop a new response to stress, and help you experience freedom, power and capability in all that you are.

Nea Clare is a channel of divine wisdom, spiritual intuitive and transformational life coach who works directly with the Archangels and Ascended Masters in sharing messages, developing workshops and providing clarity for her clients. She helps her clients to awaken to their own divine nature by removing emotional, mental, spiritual and karmic blocks. For more information, visit NeaClare.com. See ad page 14.